The walls are starting to go up at the Buffalo Wild Wings project at 117 Northwest Bypass.

“All of the walls and the trusses were prefabricated and are on site,” said Dick Anderson Construction’s Scott Keller, who is the project manager.

A hang-up with the sale of the site, which was followed by a week of rain, delayed the start of construction.

“We are on track to finish by mid-October,” Keller said. “We’ve got 20 to 30 workers on site daily.”

There will be traffic detours on the Northwest Bypass for some sewer line work in a couple of weeks. A new waterline will be brought in from the north.

“We wanted to wait to begin that until after the State Fair was complete,” Keller said.

— Jo Dee Black

Work on Loenbro facility underway

Work at the new Loenbro 30,000-square-foot steel pipe fabrication facility is also progressing, said Keller of Dick Anderson Construction. “We expect to pour the concrete slab by the end of the week.”

The facility, located on a 52-acre site east of ADF International and MaltEurop on 33rd Street Northwest, will include two overhead 10-ton cranes, 20 welding stations, 20 1-ton jib cranes, pipe prep equipment, heat treat equipment and a support shop for storage, consumables and office space. At full occupancy, the pipe fabrication facility will have about 50 employees.

“The building is prefabricated and will show up in September,” Keller said. “It will take about a month and a half to put up.”

There are also plans for Loenbro to build a new office and an equipment and maintenance shop at the site.

“Plans are being finalized, but we expect to begin work on the office building this fall,” Keller said.

— Jo Dee Black

Small businesses say outlook unchanged

More small business owners say their company’s current financial situation is good, yet their outlook for the next year has not changed significantly, according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index.

In a quarterly small business survey, conducted July 7-11, the overall Small Business Index score increased slightly to positive 49 (+49) in July, up two points from positive 47 (+47) in April. The score, which measures small business optimism, has increased six of the last seven quarters. Small business optimism is now at its highest point in more than six years, however it remains well below prerecession levels.

The present situation — how business owners’ rate current conditions for their businesses — is the main contributor to increased optimism in the latest survey. The present situation score is now at a positive 18 (+18), up four points since the April survey and 14 points from the same period a year ago. Specific factors that contribute to the improvement include:

• Small business owners are feeling better about their current business financial situation, with 62 percent rating it as very or somewhat good, up from 57 percent in the second quarter 2014.

• More business owners report their company’s revenues have increased, with 43 percent indicating revenues are up in the past 12 months compared with 36 percent in April.

• Cash flow over the past 12 months also is at a six-year high. In the survey, 55 percent of business owners report their cash flow has been very or somewhat good over the past year, up from 50 percent in the second quarter of 2014.

• Ease of obtaining credit in the past 12 months is up significantly — 32 percent of small business owners say that it has been very or somewhat easy to obtain credit in the past 12 months.

At the same time, the future outlook for business owners in the July survey was relatively unchanged, down two points to positive 31 (+31) from positive 33 (+33) in the second quarter. In three surveys conducted in 2014, the percent of business owners who think their businesses’ cash flow, financial situation, and revenue would improve over the next 12 months has not moved significantly. The percent of business owners who expect to increase capital spending in the year ahead is the same as those who plan to decrease (25 percent).

“The latest Index scores show small businesses have made gradual progress since the economic downturn — with modest improvement in the economy, healthier small businesses are growing revenue and have stronger cash flow today,” said Lisa Stevens, head of Small Business for Wells Fargo. “However, we know many businesses still face challenges in the marketplace and it’s reflected in the survey results. Many continue to wait for more improvement in their businesses and the economy before they express confidence in the year ahead.”

Business owners report that the biggest challenge they face is attracting customers and finding business (13 percent), followed closely by government regulations (11 percent), financial stability of their business (11 percent) and the economy (11 percent).

When it comes to generating new business, small business owners said the toughest part is marketing and advertising (14 percent), and competition (13 percent). Ten percent of business owners said the costs of running a business make it difficult to attract customers and grow. Another 10 percent said making product improvements or having the latest products is the biggest challenge to growing sales.

Since August 2003, the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index has surveyed small business owners on current and future perceptions of their business financial situation. The Index consists of owners’ ratings of the current situation of their businesses their ratings of how they expect their businesses to perform over the next 12 months. Results are based on telephone interviews with 603 small business owners July 7-11.